Sheet feeding and delivering mechanism for printing machines



c. STERN ET AL SHEET FEEDING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES Filed July7. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 15 1927.

c. STERN ET AL SHEET FEEDING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINE S Filed July '2, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet Feb 15! Filed July'i, 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet Fa,

Feb. 15; 1927.

v 1,617,656 c. L. STERN ET AL I SHEET FEEDING AND DELIVERING MECHANISM FOR PRINTING MACHINES- Filed July7, 1 922 s Sheets-Sheet 4 5 1927 c. L. STERN ET AL 1 SHEET FEEDING AND DELIVER NG MEcuANIsM oR' PRINTING mAcH'INEs Filgd Patented Feb. 15, 1927.

1 muses T N WE}.

erm LQITIS seem A D-ens ave Q LERQ E IQOEDQNENGLAN1?, e srene i so enown ANDFMAQBIN-EBY MITED QF DO ENG AN A; G M- P-ANY OE sew- BRITAIN- snnnr nn DELIVERING MECHANISM? i onen n'rrne MACHINES;

Application filed July 7,1922, Serial m5. 573,277, and in Great Britain iui is, 192 1.

This invention relates to sheet feeding and delivering mechanism for printing machines, and particularly to those constructions known as pile feeders and pile deliveries. In producing, with such mechanism, multicolonr work, that is to say, printing in two rmor urs. on ne si e o ea h he n it is usual, after the sheets have received their firstin pression, to transfer them by 10 hand in batches from the delivery pile back to the feeding pile, from which they are again fed into the machine, with the. same edge leading as in the. previous printing, for receiving the second impression, and so on for any further impressions, In producing with this type of mechanism perfector work, that is to say, sheets printed on both id s t, is c sary, n eating as mfer similar to that above mentioned, to invert each batch of sheets, and also reverse the same so; that the edge which was the. leadi'ngione during the printing on one side shall be the leading edge -'during the printing on the opposite side.

In both the'ab ve named systems. of working', the handling of the sheets. during the transfer from the delivery mechanism to the feed mechanism disturbs the pile alignment which had been previously secured by the jogging mechanism on the delivery board, and such alignment has to be restored before the sheets are again fed through the machine to ensnre proper register of the successive impressions,

a The bject ofthe present invention is to Vprovide means whereby the. transfer from" h deli ry m ha sm o he f edin mechani m. may e eqted'v t eet ne sit ting und r any i cums a ces, an t -i s on of h s ts and turbanc o th p al' snmez t 1 1; sh t f For atta nin h ebq e na e O t, means are provided in conjunction withthe te board hereby the op, sheet f the p le may be fed t the mach e h th r i fron or rear ed e fe 'e o as des d an when fed with its rear edge foremost, in; erse and mea s re p i e in con n tion with the delivery mechanism wheremay b 'tran erfe a s-a eem e e tity o the'r e feed t ei h he lead n e he c i g dge or most, and itho t in y e eliv r-y rd it i l the eo any way disturbing the pile alignment ofthe sheets.

The invention will now be described reference to the accompanying drawings in which I Figure l is a diagrammatic side elevation of the feed end of a printing machine showing the. applicationtheretofof' a constructional for'rn of the invention in which two 7 f d c l a e. employed, 0, p ra e t each end of the pile of sheets; V

Figure 2 is a similar side elevation of the delivery end of the machine; c

Fi r 3nd 4 ar espec iv ly e de va i and. a ct nal? e evat o "o the feeder head shown at the right-hand side of Figure 1 drawn to a larger scale than that figure, and showing one constructional form of sheet feeding devices suitable for usein connection therewith and v Figure 5 is a plan of the same feeder head partly broken away.

According to the constructional form of the invention herein dealt with, which is illustrated diagrammatically in Figures 1 and 2, there are providedin connection with the feed board 1, two feeder heads 2', One of these feeder heads 2 carries devices adapted to operate" near the foremost edge of the pile 4 on the feed b'oardto name top sheets from the pile in succession and introduce them between the feed rolls 5,b.y which they are passed along the tapes 6 to the rolls 7, which in turn pass them on to the printing. couple, while the other ofthe heads 3 carries devices adapted to operate,

near therear edge of the pile l to lift the? cop sheetsfroni the pile in succession and deliver them between the rolls 8 to the endless tape 9, by which they are inverted over the roll 10, and. thence fed'hy sheet-conveyingfdevices such as the tapes 11:, 12 13 to the rolls 7, by which they are delivered to the printing couple, as ingthe case of sheets fed'fdirect from the foremostedge of the pile. When printed, the sheets are delivered printed side up tofthe delivery 'boardle, which is similar in all respects to and in tel changeable with the feed board 1, and

he fiec n' m t re lee Pri i g th livery board 14 with the pile of sheets bearing the first'imp'ression is lowered by the 105. usual mechanism 15th to a trolley 16, shown V against the front one of the two so-called lays 57 between which the feed board is raised and lowered. For the next subsequent print, the feeder head 2 is operative at the foremost edges of the sheets to feed them 7 direct to the rolls 5 and 7, while the inverting mechanism is inoperative and the feeder head 3 at the rear edge of the sheets is arranged to co-operate with the head 2 for directly feeding the sheets as hereinafter described.

.i/Vhen effecting perfector work, the de- Ii liveryboard 14 hearing the sheets printed on one-side is turned, during the transfer from the delivery to the feeding mechanism, so that the board is placed on the latter in a position to present the previously leading edges of the sheets against the rear lay 57,; the correct pile alignment of those edges having been established, in" the usual way, with the aid of a similar lay (not shown in Figure-2) provided at the forward end of the delivery board. Then, for the next subsequent print on the reverse side of the sheet, the feeder head 3 is rendered operative to feed the sheet-s betweenthe rollsS to the inverting' mechanism by which they are verting mechanism. 40

passed tothe feed rolls 7 with the same edge leading as during theprevious print and with the'p'reviously printed side down, the head 2 being arranged to co-operate with the head 3 to feed the sheets towards the in- According to the v invention the two feeders heads, such as 2 and 3, are operable,

' con-jointly to feed the sheets in either directlOIL' The details. of the construction, by

which this last-mentioned result is, in the present example, attained, vare illustrated in .1 Figures 3, 4 and 5, and will now be described. I, It is to be noted that the feeder'heads2, .-;3 are right and-left hand respectively, being in all otherrespects replicas of each other, and for-this reason the description and illustration has'been. confinedto the head 3. Thehead comprises two frames 3, 3, (which numeral is herein used'to designate the head when referred to asa whole), upon WhlCll are .mounted the shafts for supporting and operating the sheet lifting and separating v devices, these frames being supported above the'level of the pile 4 on side rails 18', 18,

along which the head isadjustable as a wholeby means of racks 23 atthe side/of the rails 18 and pinions 19, one at each .end

' of a shaft/22 which is rotated when desired by means ofgear wheels 20 on ashaft 84 7 extending 'axially through; a tubular shaft" The sheet lifting and, separating devices, which in the constructional form shown are pneumatic, are respectively carried by, and adjustable transversely along, shafts 24 and 50, and areoperated from a rotating'shaft 25, which is driven by meansof a spiral gear 27 adjustable along thefirst-driven shaft 26. The shaft 24 is journalled in bearings 28 sliding in guides 29 in the side frames and is vertically reciprocated means of grooved cams 30 on the shaft 25,'which are engaged by bowls 31 on the bearings 28.

The suction device 32, by which the top sheets are lifted from the pile, is adjustable vertically, by means of milled nuts 83, within a hollow casing 82 which is pivoted at 33 to a forked bracket 34 carried by a rod 35 capable of sliding fore-and-aft in a hearing bracket 36 which is adjustable alongthe shaft 24. The bracket 34 is connected by a link 37 to an arm 38 fast on the tubular shaft 21 which is rocked through segmental gear 39, and levers 40 and 41, by a groovecam 42, mounted on the shaft 25, with which engages a bowl 43 on the lever 41. Y J

The sheet lifter 32 is thus, through tical movement of the shaft 24, periodically lowered on to and raised away from the pile, and, through the rocking of the shaft 21, moved backwards and forwards above the pile. At appropriate stages during these movements, a pipe 44, carried by the frames 3, with which pipe the lifter 32 communicates by a flexible tube 45, isconnected to an air-exhauster and opened to atmosphere, so that the successive top sheets of the pile are lifted, fed forward to the rolls 8 and released. This completes the action of the sheet feeding device when it is being used to feed sheets direct to the adjacent feed rolls. Y As previously"mentioned, there are preferably two sheets feeding devices op erating simultaneously on each head, and

when feeding. direct, as just described,these will be ad usted' at such distance apart onthe shaft 24 as to act near opposite sides of the'verthe pile. When, however, the head. is being 7 used. on the following edges of the sheets to assist the other-head in feeding the. sheets in the opposite direction, these lifting-devices will be adjusted closer together so asto operate near the centre of the. rear of the sheet, and will be used in .conjiuiction with the sheetseparating device next to, be

described.

Each sheetseparating deviceconsists of a nozzle 46 normally resting on the top'ofthe pile and pivoted at 48 to a rod 49' slidable within a bracket 47 adjustable along a 1101-.

low shaft 50 with the interior of which'the nozzle 46 is connected by a flexible tube 51. The upper end of the rod 49 is engaged by one'arm of a lever 52 pivoted atu53 to the. before-mentioned bracket 47, whose.- other arm is provided with a bowl 54 held, by a tension spring 58 acting'between the bracket 47 and the top of the rod 149, inxcontact with a cam 56 fast on the shaft 25. The nozzle 46 isthusperiodically raised away from and lowered on to the pile 4 by the action of said cam and spring. During the raising movement, the nozzle is tilted backwards away from the 'pile 'about'the pivot 48 through the contacting of a projection 59 with a pin 60 adjustable in the bracket 47, and during the lowering movement it is restored to normal position by the action of a spring 61. As the nozzle 46 returns to the pile 4 it is supplied with a blast of air from the pipe 50, which assists in separating from the pile the top sheet just previously engaged by the sucker 82, so that the said top sheet is floated up from the pile and can be more conveniently secured by the lifter of the other head operating at the opposite edge of the sheet, by which it is to be fed forward to the feed rolls.

hen the lifter 32 is operating in conjunction with the separator 46, it is desirable for the rear edge of the sheet tobe slightly buckled during the lifting, and this buckling is secured by a tilting movement of the lifter which is imparted to it by the following means :From the casing 82, above the pivot 33, there projects a pin 62 in a position to be engaged by a plate 63 which is adjustably mounted in a bracket 64 secured to an arm 65 capable of being rocked about the shaft 50 and having at its upper end a bowl 67 held in contact with a cam 66 fast on the shaft 25, by a spring 55. By the action of the cam 66 the plate 63 is moved forward against the pin 62 just as the top sheet is being raised from the pile, the lifter 32 being thereby tilted and the sheet buckled.

To assist in preventing displacement of any sheets of the pile exceptingthe top one, a blade spring 68 may be provided to bear lightly on the rearedge of the centre of the pile, and this may be conveniently secured to a bracket 69 on the shaft 50 in such manner that it may be raised and held out of operative position when the respective head is being used for direct feeding. As the nozzle 46 is similarly required to be out of action under the last-mentioned circumstances, a setscrew 70 is provided in the bracket 47 by means of which the rod 49 may be secured in its raised position out of the range of action of the lever 52. Further,

. as the tilting action of the sucker 32 is likewise not required when the head is used for direct feeding, the bracket 64 and arm 65 are arranged near the centre of the shaft 50 so as to be out of contact with the lifter 32 when the latter is adjusted outwards along the shaft, as it is when feeding direct. In Figure 5, one lifter and separator with their operating mechanism are shown in position for operating on the following edge of stru'ctional form, symmetrically arranged at that part of the head which is broken .away

in Figure 5-and that the second. plate63 shown will effect the tilting motion of the second lifter when in that position.

a sheet, but it is to be understood that cor- V responding mechanismis, in the present con-.

connecting and disconnecting said sources 1 i and pipes by cams mounted on the shaft 26. Such valve mechanism is not illustrated in the drawings, as'it constitutes no part of the present invention, although it is to be noted that, in the constructional form of the invention in which the function of the respective heads as co-operatingfeeders and.

separators requires to be changed, suitable known means forreversing the order of opening and closing of the valves must be provided. i i

It is to be understood that the particular mechanisms hereinbefore described are given merely as convenient examples, and that different constructional forms of apparatus for I I v feeding mechanism comprising the combination of a pile feed board, two feeder heads adapted, to operate conjointly at opposite ends of the pile, one as a sheet feeder and the other as a sheetseparator, and means whereby the operation of each. may be'convertedfrom thatof a feeder to thatof a separator and vice versa.

3. "In or for a printing machine, sheet feeding mechanism comprising the combination of a pile feed board, two feeder heads adapted to operate conjointly at opposite ends of the pile, one as a sheet feeder and the other as a sheet separator, means where by the operation of each may be converted from that of a feeder to that of a separator and vice versa, for feeding sheets. respectively towards and away from the printing machine, and means co-operating with one 4. In or for a printing machine, sheet feeding mechanism comprising the combination of a pile feed board, two feeder heads adapted to Operate *cbnj6i1'1t1jy at dppesite of said'heads adapted to inveft sheets reendsof the pile; 0Iie as a sheet feeder and ceived from that head and convey them 0 the otherlas a sheet separator, means Wheretowards the printing machine. byjtheoperation of each may be converted In/testimony whereof we have aflixed 011i fromithat of a feeder to that of a separator signature s hereto. r

and vice lversa fer feeding sheets respec- I tively towards and away from the'printing CARL LOUIS STERN.

machine, and'means co-operating With one ARTHUR VICTOR BUGLER. 

